Wordstock: Colin Meloy, Chelsea Cain, Carson Ellis, more

↑ For State of Wonder’s second show recorded live at the Portland literary festival Wordstock, we hear from two amazing groups of writers.

Portland’s Most Infamous Writing Group

A veritable Justice League of Portland writers: Chelsea Cain, Suzy Vitello and Lidia Yuknavitch. Together with other scribes like Chuck Palahniuk and Monica Drake, they make up perhaps Portland’s most infamous writers’ group. They talk about why poisonous octopi wouldn’t cut it in the Willamette, the literary virtues of dolmas and red wine, the role of tension, and how they stoke each other’s creativity.

The Meloy Family Hour

For the second half of the show, we turn to a family that packs more talent into a single generation than most of us can manage in an entire family tree: brother and sister Colin and Maile Meloy and Colin’s wife, Carson Ellis. They discuss their creative histories, why Colin used to steal Maile’s Depeche Mode tapes, what they’re working on next (hint: pickpockets in Marseilles!), whether LAIKA is going to make a “Wildwood” animated movie, and more.